Copper Rock Creek A copper for your thoughts?

Walking along the coppery rocks that banked the creek he was walking alongside, Florence always knew he was quite curious as a pup and that part of that strong urge to explore and look around his home came from that curiosity. He wanted to know the land both within the pack and surrounding it. Of course, he was on the look out for any herbs to take back to the pack but there was also the chance to explore while he did so. Already hanging from his maw was a few giant blazing stars, the yellow flowers useful in that he planned on giving to Vera, the next time he saw her and the bark of the skunk bush, which was carefully wrapped up in a leaf and would prove helpful this coming winter. It helped with colds and with pups in the pack, it would do good to have a good supply of it.

Yet as he inspected the ground further for Salmon berry, Florence couldn't help but wonder what gave these rocks their shining gleam. Placing the plants he had already gathered down by his feet, Florence let out a huff and tilted his head towards the ground. He had never seen rocks like these before, at least not this big. He had found small rocks that were smoothed by the rivers they traveled in, tumbling end over end before coming to rest before coming to rest on the banks. Those pebbles sometimes gleamed interesting colours but he'd never encountered ones like these before.

Some were moss covered, some weren't and eventually, Florence decided that while they were pretty, he should continue on with his herb hunting.
Sighing slightly, he turned back to the herbs he already gathered, spotting the yellow flowers. If only Vera was here, he wouldn't feel as lonely. She'd be darting around, asking him what herbs to look for and wt they did. But he hadn't seen her since they joined Black Thorn Downs and he prayed she was alright and hadn't gotten herself into any trouble. Lost in his thoughts, Florence was left simply staring at the gathered herbs, looking as if he were lost and didn't know where to go.

Cold. Cold and dreary and wet. That was the best way to describe the day as Hexamora found herself aimlessly wandering the countryside, the grey skies above issuing out droplet after droplet of fresh powder to litter the ground below in small piles. Her arctic thick pelt did well in keeping out most of the cold, but even that couldn't keep every last bit of the chill in the air from reaching her bones and when she got cold she got irritable. The very irritability that plagued her now was being used as an outlet towards the wolf skull she carried with her, well kicked this time. Not today was she going to carry the thing between the safety of her jaws and instead settled with kicking the thing like a ball with her paws for entertainment. Nor was she ready to part with the unethical possession just yet.

Lost in her thoughts and with bi-colored gaze focused on the skull she kicked there was no time to process what happened next. With a good kick her precious skull took flight and thunk! it collided with the skull of another wolf, falling onto the ground at his feet with empty eye sockets gazing up ominously at his own. It only took a couple quick bounds for the ivory female to catch up to its fallen location, but as quick as she arrived her claws dug into the sediment rich soil to bring herself to a halt. 'Oh come on. Not again!' She thought when she took in the dark hued man. He wasn't the same man from the sacred grove who wanted to keep her precious for himself, this one's body larger in size and his fur mixed with browns and black instead of being pure ebony. Instantly her gaze whipped down to where her skull rested, right between his paws and not in a position where she could just swoop in and grab it then be on her way. Nope, once more she was left to resort to conversing with yet another wolf from these lands. God, she just couldn't catch a break could she?

It wasn't everyday that one came across a skull was being used as a ball of sorts, let alone it bouncing along to hit him in the head and land at his feet, the strike to the head startling him out of his mind and causing him to stare into its empty eyes. It knocked the flowers and bark he had collected, causing them to scatter all over the rocks and even one flower fell into the nearby creek. Florence whipped his head around to only watch it settle in the water and begin to float away. "No!" he whispered harsh to himself. He could not allow it to float away, even if it was just a flower that he had another one of or that he could easily find another. It was a gift for Vera and he certainly wasn't going to let it just swim away!

But as he stared at the flower, watching it float away, it continued getting further away from him, causing him to panic just a little more. Stepping away from the skull, not even acknowledging the light coloured female who had kicked the skull and thus caused the flower to go into the water, Florence stepped into the cold water. He couldn't stop the shiver from racking his body and coupled with the memory of cold winters and wet fur causing illness that could kill, the large wolf was jolted out of the need to go after the flower. After all, if he died, what would that do to Vera? It would crush her heart, if him being missing for a month was any indication.

how stupid! he thought to himself as he clambered out of the creek, the water dripping off him heavily before he managed to shake it off. The water sprayed everywhere, even towards the woman. Seeing the woman, Florence frowned at her. The skull had hit him and it had been his idea to go into the water, she had still made him lose a flower for his beloved. "What were you doing with that skull?" he questioned as he gathered up the remaining flower and shunkbush bark, which was thankfully still wrapped up in its leafy bag. "Do you know how disrespectful it is, playing with the bones of a fallen wolf?"

Miraculously the perfect moment to grab the skull opened up as the very actions of her skull hitting the man and following to the ground had knocked a flower into the nearby creek. The single flower had caused the man to foolishly dart after it, plunging momentarily into the frigid water which allowed Hex to dash forward and safely scoop the set of bones into her mouth, backing up away from the scene. That was until the stranger realized the death sentence he almost gave himself and retreated from the water, shaking the liquid from his pelt and flinging it everywhere. Some even landed on her and that was not okay, but before she could set the skull down to voice her displeasure he had spoke after regathering whatever it was he had bundled up in a leaf.

The dark coated man demanded what she was doing with a skull and if she knew how disrespectful it was to play with ones remains. Did she really look like someone who cared about whether something was deemed respectful or not? If it entertained Hexamora then that was all that mattered. Knowing she couldn't answer with a mouth full of skull she lowered her head to gently place it at her feet, an obnoxious eye roll following suit once her gaze met his. "I don't care if its disrespectful. This skull is my possession and source of entertainment. Besides the poor chap has no use for a head anymore." A sickening smirk graced the ebony lining of her lips at her last sentence before turning the questioning around. "Didn't your mother teach you how stupid it is to go for a swim in freezing weather?" Maybe if he had been stupid enough to stay in the water and let the body wracking chills of hypothermia take his life she could have replaced her current skull for his. Hexamora did like to acquire new things. They were always so shiny and pretty when they were brand new. Clearly his skull would be prettier to look at than the dull, cracked one that was nestled between her paws.

Of course the woman had already picked the skull up when he was distracted with getting the flower and after an eye-roll, dismissing his words fairly quickly as she stated she didn't care. But that was before a sickening smirk crossed over her face, commenting on how didn't his mother teach him to wasn't a good idea to go swimming in this kind of weather?

"My mother has absolutely no bearing on this conversation." Florence told her steadily, a tendril of wariness creeping its way into his chest. Just who was this woman, using a skull for entertainment like she was? The remains of dead wolves were not mere playthings or at least, that's what he had been taught. Bones of prey animals, like deer or elk yes, they were free game when it came to playing with them but wolves? Florence could not blame the next shudder that crept down his spine on the cold air brushing over his wet fur. He should leave soon, back to his pack and dry off properly before warming up instead of staying here with this woman but his tongue had grown slightly think and his mind was not working out a way that would allow him to leave without the woman possibly following him. And he did not want to lead her to his pack and especially not to the pups that were within the pack.

What should he do? He did not want to be in this woman's presence any longer as she made him feel uneasy, not to mention his wet fur and the weather that was still in play but if she did not leave him alone when he walked away...

Glancing down at his feet, he was reminded that he was herb collecting at the sight of the leafy bag and flower at his feet. "I need to continue looking for herbs for my pack," He said stiffly, bending down to pick up the bag and flower. "So you can keep...playing with your skull or whatever but I should be going." Gently grasping the plants, Florence turned away from her and hoped she would not follow him.

(This post was last modified: Nov 23, 2014, 05:13 AM by Florence.)

The smirk that found its way onto her lips only grew wider at the way the man shuddered before her, clearly distraught by her affection for things creepy and odd in nature and then a thought crossed her mind. Wouldn't it be fun to see just how far she could push this guy? If he grew weak at the knees just talking about playing with bones, what would happen if he witnessed her actually playing with them? A dark, ominous laugh echoed in her mind at the thought and was about to put her plans into action when the dark man once more spoke and the words that fell from his mouth were quick to ruin these plans. What fun would she have if her audience left before the show began?

No. This would not do and she was not about to let him leave. Didn't he know how rude it was to leave one's performance? The ivory clad woman could feel the uneasiness that radiated off his moistened pelt and it only fed her desire to toy with him longer. Oh how she loved to mess with another wolf, especially when they became creeped out by her. Yes, she preferred the joys of solitude and the loneliness of the open countryside, but even she found herself wanting to be around others. Even if it was just for an hour or two scaring the dickens out of whoever the unlucky victims happened to be and today that victim just so happened to be this guy. He wasn't going to get away that easily. "Can't you stick around just for a little bit? I didn't even get your name." She quickly spoke her words at him before dipping her head down to hastily pick up the wolf skull in her mouth and dart after the fleeing brute, coming up at his left side.

His jaws tightened around his bag as she called after him, asking him if he couldn't stick around for just a bit longer and couldn't he tell her his name? No, I'm not sticking around and no, you cannot have my name He thought to himself, refusing to look at her as she came up to his left side and lengthened his strides, his long legs helping him to stay a few feet in front of her without having to start actually running. If she wanted to keep following him, than there was nothing he could do about it. But he was not going to make it easy for her to keep up.

He just wanted to go home and be with Vera, who he had not seen in weeks and not beside some creek with a creepy lady who liked playing with skulls and could not take the hint that her company was not wanted. Anyone else would have taken the dismissal and left it at that. But no, apparently this woman, who seemed to have some strange fascination with all things dead and broken, did not take the hint and followed him instead. Now Florence did not have a mean bone in his body, short of someone threatening those he loved but he did have a comfort zone when it came to interacting with other wolves and this pale woman had over shot it completely.

He could only hope that with him not speaking and walker faster then she could, she would finally take the hint and leave.

The strong silent type, eh? So it was going to be a challenge getting whatever his name was out of him and even more of a challenge just to keep up with the large man. This was the biggest downfall of her small size, having such short legs to work with but she made up for it in stamina. However long this guy tried to put the distance between them, Hex would be right behind him keeping her pace and ignoring his obvious hint that he wanted nothing to do with her. Challenge accepted.

Making light bounds to keep even with this unknown male, she shifted the skull in her mouth the best that she could to make sure her words came out as clear as possible, though some mumbling was still plausible. "Well since you won't tell me your name, I'll guess it." The two then fell silent as she thought up all the possible names he could be called. There had to be at least a million different ones to choose from so this game wasn't going to be over soon and the thought brought another one of Hex's wicked smirks to her ebony lips. This guy was so eager to get rid of her, but like a parasite she wasn't going anywhere. "Is it, Hector? Henry? Or, um Harry?" She tossed out the random onslaught of names, turning her head towards him with her bi-colored gaze taking in the coloration of his pelt once more. It was made up of dark browns and black intertwined, somehow striking a familiar memory in her mind. Hm, where had she seen a pelt like that before?

It seemed the woman took it as a challenge to try and keep up with him, bounding lightly next to him as the skull shifted in her mouth. Florence would have laughed, had he not felt so uncomfortable, when she tried to guess his name. As far as he knew, his name was not exactly the most common around and the odd time he had heard it, he found it was a name given to a female.

"is it, Hector? Henry? Or um Harry?" She tried to guess. They were no where near being close to his own name but Florence gave no indication that she had guessed wrong. Nor would he give any sign that she was right either, as he kept looking ahead as they still followed the creek some ways along. He spotted some Solomon Berry but thought against stopping to get it. He would come back later for it, after this woman had left him alone.

Why was this woman following him anyway? Did she not have anything better to do with her time, something that did not involve trying to guess a strangers' name who obviously did not want her around? Was annoying wolves something she did for fun?

Still, he said nothin to her. She could go through a whole list of names and and even guess his name correctly but he would not show her any kind of sign that she was wanted company to him. Hopefully, she would grow bored and leave him be soon.

No answer to her bombardment of random names in which he could possibly call himself and then it hit her. Florence. She had in fact crossed paths with this wolf once before and it now dawned on her where that encounter had been. The bison feast weeks ago at the heart leaf creek. Instantly her light bounds in pursuit of the large male came to a halt, refusing to take another step with this man. How had she not seen it or better so smelt it sooner? His pelt held the distinct scent of a pack similar to the pup Kova she toyed with mentally and the russet female who accompanied him. He may not have known she caught his name, but she indeed did hear it when he spoke it to the russet woman.

This realization made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end, now content to let him be on his way. There was no more fun to be had with him and all the interest she once had now withered and died. Nope, Hexamora was keen to take her wolf skull and be on her way. Far far away from him and the possibility of running into one of his dimwitted pack mates. "I'll see you around, Florence." She chastised before whirling her body around to face the direction they had just come from. Even if she wasn't going to stick around to finish playing her little game with him, she knew that the mere fact that she knew his name would bug the dark colored man enough at night on how she came to know it. That was a mystery she was glad to keep. If it mentally ran him in circles looking for the answer that was the greatest entertainment of all.